| Luke 11:9-12 – “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks . . . How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him,” |
This past Memorial Day weekend, May 28, 2023 I suffered from an ATV wreck. The result was 6 ribs broken in 8 places, and a broken scapula. Through the course of the next several hours I endured 2 Emergency departments, a life-flight, and overnight on a trauma unit. I also made a later visit to another Emergency department for pain control. The first assessment I heard was that it would take 10 to 12 weeks to recover. At that point there was the possibility that I might need a chest tube and surgery which was why I was taken by helicopter to a higher level of care hospital.
The wreck happened at noon on Sunday. By mid-afternoon on Monday I was discharged and on my way home. I was back to work in 13 days from the event. After 8 weeks, I ran as part of my exercise for the first time, and four days later, I was cleared by the orthopedic surgeon, who I had been seeing, to basically return to all normal activities. It was also decided that I didn’t require official rehab. It was a long 8 weeks, but with all that happened it is pretty miraculous.
The context of the passage in Luke is what we often refer to as the Lord’s Prayer. There is another version of that prayer in Matthew 6. In both places there is the phrase “Give us this day our daily bread.” Later in Matthew’s version it says it more specifically to seek God’s kingdom first, and not to be anxious about tomorrow, sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
How often have I suggested these verses and idea of living one day at a time to patients, families, and staff when they were in a crisis of some kind? Early on in my 8 week recovery I made a decision to focus on staying connected to God, and to heal, and everything else was minimal. A lot of people and prayers were important, and there is much more to the story.
I believe the challenge is to stay connected to God, and live a life of healing when not in an obvious crisis. This includes being a healer ourselves and to those most important us and contributing in a meaningful way to our work. Maybe it also means not accomplishing as many things, but accomplishing the most important things.
Lord help us as we ask, seek, and knock, that we understand how much you love us. Help us to daily connect to you for healing, and be healers to those we come in contact with. Amen.
-Donna Stauber
